CONCEPT VS. CONSTRUCTION
Are you an individual who likes to ideate or implement ideation? A job title marked with "concept" focuses more on creating some of the first visuals pertaining to their department, conceptualizing through mostly verbal and written information, creating technical packages, setting guidelines for and inspiring those who execute those ideas.
A role labeled as "construction" works on executing those concepts. These individuals utilize inspirational works, roughs, technical packages, established structures and create them for practical use in production. "Constructors" take the ideas or guidelines developed by the "conceptualizers" and push them into that final form so they can be utilized towards the final product. For example, a character designer would be under "concept" while those who actualize the character, such as riggers and modelers, would be labeled under "construction."
These are arbitrary means to help you understand your interests and are not distinct. These role types all have overlap and sometimes work in both areas. However, you may find you like working in one kind of thinking and working over the other.
PIPELINE
When does this role work throughout the pipeline? (Pre-production, Production, Post-production)
WORKS WITH
What other roles or departments do those in this role work with?
SOFTWARE
What software do individuals in this role work with? Keep in mind, we'll be providing as many relevant programs as possible. This means you may see three programs that all complete the same task; however, one may be used over the other depending on the artist's personal preference or studio requirements. While becoming proficient in every single software attached to a job you're interested in is certainly not required, it's great to know which programs are being used in the industry and have options for which you'd like to learn.
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2D Digital Animator (Hand Drawn)
Construction
Production
"2D animators convey stories or messages by making their characters, objects, and backgrounds move in a two-dimensional environment (in this role's case, a digital 2D environment). Besides drawing, they must also be excellent storytellers. They are responsible for clearly communicating a story or message by moving characters in a way that engages viewers," CGSpectrum.
It's also essential to understand the 12 Principles of Animation, character acting/ performance, emotionality, and acting. An example of this type of animation are shows like "She-Ra," "Avatar: The Last Airbender," and "The Legend of Korra."
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Works with: Director, Supervising Animator,
Software: Toon Boom Harmony, Adobe Animate, After Effects
2D Digital Animator (Hand Drawn)
Crowds Animation
Construction
Production
Crowds animators simulate the movement of a large number of entities or characters. They animate the "extras" in a scene. For example, all those animals roaming the city of Zootopia in Disney's "Zootopia" were animated by Crowds Animators. In addition, when joining a larger studio, this will likely be the entry-level position you are given as a character animator.
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Works with: Animators, Simulation
Software: Autodesk Maya, Houdini
Crowds Animator
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Lighting Technical Director (TD)
Construction
Production, Post-Production
"A Lighting TD adds surface qualities to objects, through adding depth to sets and characters with shadows, as well as light to provide illumination that helps accentuate the mood and emotion of a scene." Production Base
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Works with: CG Supervisor
Software: Maya, Nuke, Python, and After Effects
Lighting Technical Director (TD)
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Set's Department: Background Artist/Matte Painter/Set Extension
Concept and Construction
Pre-Production, Production
"Background Designers design the scenery around, or on top of, where the animation happens. Once the storyboard has been signed off, they use the storyboard panels as inspiration to create detailed backgrounds for each scene," ScreenSkills.
"Extrapolating art direction from the Director, Set Extension Artists enhance storytelling by creating complex digital backgrounds, landscapes, and environments using a range of digital tools involving painting and rendering programs," Walt Disney Animation Teams.
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Works with: Story Department, Art Director, Production Designer, Layout/ Previs, Lighting, Visual Development Artists, Director
Software: (Image Editing) Photoshop, (3D modeling) Blender, 3DS Max, Mudbox, Maya, Zbrush, Substance Designer, Quixel (2D Animation Software) TVPaint, ToonBoom Harmony
Set's Department: Etc.
Art Director
Concept
Pre-Production, Production
"If a Production Designer oversees the entire look of the film, an Art Director's job is to facilitate and implement the Production Designer's creative intent. This eventually gives the film its unique visual identity," Zacuto.
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Art Director's ideate, determine mood, tone, concepts, oversee creative production department heads, and more to help realize the Production Designer's and Director's visual language. They can also be more specified in production, such as a Character Art Director or Environment Art Director.
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Works with: Production Designer, Director, Production Department Heads (Sets, Props, Character, Effects, etc.)
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Software: Photoshop, Traditional, Maya
Art Director
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2D Traditional Animators
(Hand Drawn)
Construction
Production
"2D animators convey stories or messages by making their characters, objects, and backgrounds move in a two-dimensional environment (in this role's case, on Ingram paper). They are responsible for clearly communicating a story or message by moving characters in a way that engages viewers," CGSpectrum.
It's also essential to understand the 12 Principles of Animation, character acting/ performance, emotionality, and acting. In addition, 2D Traditional Animators typically concentrate more on the overall action and character performance in a scene, Screenskill
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Works with: Director, Supervising Animator, Animation Director, Storyboard Artists.
Software: Toon Boom Harmony, Adobe Animate, After Effects
2D Traditional Animator
(Hand Drawn)
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Character Technical Director (TD)
Concept and Construction
Pre-Production, Production
"Character TDs build the software that enables artists to create believable fur, feathers, and skin on their creatures."
They develop and program digital tools for all the artists who work on digital characters, helping them be as efficient as possible. Screenskill
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Works with: CG supervisor and VFX supervisor, modeling artists, riggers and animators, lighting TD
Software: Houdini, Maya, and Ziva Dynamics be able to understand and use script languages (Python as a preference, Mel and C++ as optional
Character TD
FX Technical Director (TD)
Concept and Construction
Production
"Effects Technical Directors (FX TDs) create physics-based digital effects, such as explosions, smoke, and water, that the animation artists can use in their shots and sequences. They make sure the effects look believable and also consistent with the style of the animation so that they blend seamlessly with the other art assets." ScreenSkill.
"As well as overseeing the completion of the FX sequences, the FX Technical director will create code for customized tools required for the production," CGSpectrum.
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Works with: VFX Supervisor, Lighting TDs
Software: Maya, Houdini, Blender, Adobe After Effects, Cinema 4D, MotionBuilder, Nuke, RenderMan, and 3ds Max, RenderMan, Maya, LINUX/UNIX, Programming in Python, VEX, and C++
FX Technical Director (TD)
Pipeline TD
Concept and Construction
Pre-Production, Production, Post Production
Pipeline TDs make sure a VFX project runs smoothly by identifying and fixing problems as they arise. In addition, they make sure each department has the software tools to complete their part of the project to the best standard possible.
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If the project isn't running smoothly, they identify what tools need to be developed to fix this. Issues that arise might be technical ones to do with 3D art or productivity issues. Their job involves writing or modifying code to solve problems. They also provide face-to-face technical assistance.
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Works with: Artists across the board, research and development teams, software developers
Software: Python, Maya, Nuke, Houdini
Pipeline TD
Visual Development Artist
Concept
Pre-Production, Production
"Visual development artists create the mood, tone, and color palette of every piece for an animated movie. This can include environments, characters, clothing, props, etc. Vis Dev artists work to create a world with characters that are appropriate to the storyline. Their job is to set the tone for various scenes, settings, landscapes, buildings, and almost everything else," Concept Art Empire.
This role includes specializations mentioned within this list, such as Color Key Artist, Background Artist, Prop Designer, and Character Designer. As a rule of thumb, pre-production design roles typically fall within the Visual Dev role.
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Works with: Art Director, Modeller, Shader, Lighter, Layout/ Previs, Look Dev/ Texture,
Software: (Image Editing) Photoshop, (3D modeling) Blender, 3DS Max, Mudbox, Maya, Zbrush, Substance Designer, ToonBoom Harmony (Traditional)
Texture Artist
Technical Director
Concept and Construction
Production
A Technical Director (TD) provides critical support to a show's artists and department heads. A Technical Director will design, develop, and implement new tools and processes for a particular show or department. Technical directors usually specialize in a field like math, computer science, or physics. This allows them to simulate realistic visuals or to program scripts that aid in the design of effects.
Technical Director
Color Key Artist
Concept
Pre-Production, Production
Color Key Artists create background paintings and color keys which focus on color psychology, mood, tone, materials, and their influence on the scene, characters, and story. Then, they develop the color script, which is "a way to map out the color, lighting and emotional beats in an animated film," Michael Kurinsky for FXGuide. It's like the script… but instead of using words to describe the story, they use color.
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Works with: Background Artists, Lighting, Visual Development Artists, Production Designer, Art Director
Software: Illustrator, Photoshop
Color Key Artist
Layout/Previs Artist
Construction
Pre-Production, Production
Layout artists place the camera and dictate its movement, block out our characters, and create our scene layout/choreography, all in a virtual environment with a virtual camera.
"In traditional 2D hand-drawn animation, layout artists define the perspective of the animation frames by drawing the backgrounds," ScreenSkills.
"Previs is the process of visualizing a scene (in a 3D space) before creating it. Previs generally takes the form of 3D animatics, namely a rough version of a scene or scenes. Previs artists usually start with a 2D storyboard. Then, they create draft versions of the different moving image sequences, and they put it all together using their compositing and editing skills," ScreenSkills.
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Works with: Story Artists, Director, Editorial, Lighting
Software: Adobe After Effects, Blender, Cinema 4D, Houdini, Maya, 3DS Max
Layout/Previs Artist
Production Manager
Construction
Pre-Production, Production, Post-Production
"The Production Manager is responsible for managing the day-to-day production and crew. Working closely with the Producer and Associate Producer, the Production Manager oversees the department schedules and deliverables to ensure the efficient completion of production," EntertainmentCareers.com.
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Works with: The Associate Producer, The Producer, Production Department Heads (Sets, Props, Character, Effects, etc.)
Software: Autodesk Shotgun
Production Manager
3D/CG Character Animators
Construction
Production
3D animators use computers to animate virtual pre-rigged character models. They block out the character, create keyframes, and in-between like 2D animation, except they utilize virtual space and virtual character - adjusting their movements in a 3D space.
This role requires skills in understanding emotionality, acting, performance, and basic principles of animation. In animated film production, a single character is typically animated by a team overseen by a supervising animator who maintains the animation's consistency.
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Works with: Director, Animation Director, Storyboard Artist, Animation Supervisor
Software: Autodesk Maya, 3D Studio Max
3D/CG Character Animators
2D Puppet Animators/Flash
Construction
Production
"2D puppet animators work with rigged models, with lots of separate moving parts that are interlinked. The kit of parts is often produced by the art department. The Animator then uses the available assets to animate the character as detailed on the storyboard." Screenskill.
Shows that utilize this type of animation are "South Park," "Total Drama Island," "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic."
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Works with: Storyboard Artists, Puppet Rigger
Software: Animate CC, Toon Boom Harmony, Adobe After Effects
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2D Puppet Animator
Assistant Animators: 2D In-Betweener/Clean-Up Artist (2D)/Fix Animator (3D)
Concept
Pre-Production, Production
"Assistant animators take the animator's drawings, make each frame precisely on model, and apply the final 'line' that will be seen on screen. This is known as clean-up. They will often have to fill in frames that the Animator did not need to produce. To do this, they follow the animators' charting' - visual instructions left for the assistant Animator as to where missing drawings should come in the timeline. This is known as in-betweening. They might also lip-sync, which means drawing the mouth in a way that lines up with the speech." Screenskill
Assistant Animators: Etc.
Editor
Construction
Pre-Production, Production, Post Production
"Editors shape the whole animation. They work out what will need to be animated and how scenes will be pieced together. Once the animation work has been done, they arrange the final footage and prepare a rough cut, making revisions for the final cut, which the producer must approve. Editors then oversee incorporating audio into the film, collaborating with sound designers and music editors." Screenskill.
Editorial also edits and constructs the story early on in production by creating animatics and sequences with story panels created by the story artists.
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Works with: The Editor works with many roles in production, particularly the Writer, Director, and producer during pre-production and sound designers and music editors in post-production.
Software: Adobe Premier, Adobe After Effects
Editor
Look Development
Construction
Pre-Production, Production
"Look Dev Artists define the look of CG creatures or objects to ensure all the art in the film or TV program is consistent. For example, if a concept artist draws an alien, then the Look Dev Artists work out what the skin of the alien will look like in different conditions – when it's raining, when it's dark, when the creature's angry, etc. They then work with other departments to balance the processes of texturing, lighting, and rendering to match reference images and real footage." Screenskill
"The Texture Artist will provide the texture assets, and the Look Dev Artist will add shading, special effects, contours, etc. In terms of character design, they may work on skin textures such as goosebumps, heckles, burns, etc." CGSpectrum.
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Works with: Lighting TDs, Texture Artists and Creature TDs, CG/VFX Supervisor
Software: Arnold, Blender, Maya, Mental Ray, Photoshop, RenderMan, Substance Painter, V-Ray, and ZBrush
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Look Development Artist
Storyboard Artist
Concept
Pre-Production, Production
"The storyboard sets out the look, timings, camera angles, and points of view of the sequences… The storyboard artist must interpret the Director's vision, as the rest of the crew and production will use the storyboard as a guide for the production process. This is a crucial part of the pre-production process as it is the first time the script is visualized," CG Spectrum.
"A storyboard artist is like the Director of an animated film or TV show. The artist creates visuals (panels) for each major scene in the story, including character poses, facial expressions, and backgrounds," Concept Art Empire.
Skills: Strong skills in draftsmanship, perspective, anatomy, storytelling, the cinematic language (staging, lighting, camera), working quickly, story, writing, and familiarity with acting can be helpful as well.
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Works with: Director, Animators, Writers
Software: Toon Boom Storyboard Pro, Photoshop
Storyboard Artist
Texture Artist
Concept and Construction
Production
"A Texture Artist's job is to paint surface textures on animated characters, environments, and props. In some cases, the textures used in animation cannot be found in real life. In these instances, the texture artist invents their own textures using their imagination and creativity skills," Animation Career Review.
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"Texture Artists specialize in creating the textures of 3D animated objects. Therefore, they require a biological understanding of skin in humans and animals, as well as a knowledge of textiles, geographic elements, architectural finishes, landscapes, etc.," CGSpectrum.
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Works with: Modeller, Lighting Artist, VFX Supervisors, Look Development Artists
Software: Blender, 3ds Max, ZBrush, Substance Painter Photoshop, RenderMan, Mental Ray, Maya, Shaders, and Houdini
Texture Artist
Writer/Screenwriter
Concept
Pre-Production, Production
"Animation writers develop story ideas and present them in the form of scripts. Storyboard artists and directors use their scripts to work out the visual art style. Writers either work on an original idea or contribute to an existing project, such as a TV program or series. Next, they come up with a story and then an outline of what happens in each scene. Finally, they write the full script, including dialogue and action," Screen Skills.
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Works with: Director, Story Artists
Software: Final Draft, Celtx, Fade In
Writer/Screenwriter
Character Designer
Concept
Pre-Production, Production
"Character Designers visualize and create the look of individual characters. They work from descriptions given to them by the Director (with inspiration from the script and concept art). They communicate the characters' personalities through the artwork of facial expressions and physical poses. In addition, character designers carry out research into the anatomy of characters and relevant fashion styles to inform their work," ScreenSkills.
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Works with: Director, Production Designer, Character Art Director, Art Director
Software: Photoshop, Traditional
Character Designer
Effects Animator
Construction
Production, Post-Production
Effects animators are responsible for adding natural or supernatural characters or things to animated films. They use 3D lighting and effects as well as compositing tools to achieve the desired look. For example, the water splashes, waterfalls, lava flows, and volcanic eruptions (for lava monster Te Ká) in the film Moana.
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Works with: VFX supervisors, Concept artists, technical directors, designers, and art directors
Software: Houdini, Renderman, Mantra, Nuke
Effects Animator
Modeling
Construction
Pre-Production
"Modellers create digital versions of the characters and props, which can then be 'rigged' to be animated. Next, they translate concept art, character designs, and environment designs into models ready to be animated. They start by creating a wire framework. They then sculpt around this to develop how the model looks from all angles."
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"Modellers provide initial feedback to designers on whether a design is going to be possible to model to be then rigged and animated or not."
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Works with: Concept artists, character designers, riggers, and animators, as well as with the Director.
Software: Blender, Maya, Cinema 4D, RenderMan, 3ds Max, Mudbox, ZBrush, Substance Painter, Substance Designer, Quixel
Modeling
2D Puppet Riggers
Construction
Pre-Production, Production
Puppet riggers create rigged models and assets to be used by 2D puppet animators.
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Works with: Puppet Animators
Software: Adobe After Effects, Photoshop, Toon Boom Harmony, Adobe After Effects, Animate CC
2D Puppet Rigger
Storyboard Revisionist
Concept
Pre-Production, Production
"Storyboard revisionists are an important part of an animation production team. Their main role is to support the storyboard artists and ensure the storyboards fit the animation production style and vision," Concept Art Empire.
Storyboard Revisionists' duties range from cleaning up roughs, smoothing transitions between panels, ensuring consistency, re-staging panel compositions from scratch, and more.
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Skills: This role requires strong skills in the cinematic language (staging, lighting, camera, etc.), story, character poses and expression, writing, and familiarity with acting can be helpful as well.
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Works with: Storyboard Artists, Director
Software: Toon Boom Storyboard Pro, Photoshop, Traditional
Storyboard Revisionist
3D Riggers/Rigging TD
Construction
Production
"Riggers create digital skeletons for 3D computer-generated (CG) characters. These skeletons, or rigs, are like puppets that define the movements of a character or creature. Riggers start with 3D models in a static pose and then develop the joints and rig (points of articulation) of characters, using the model frame created by the modeler." Screenskill
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Works with: Modellers, Animators
Software: Adobe After Effects, Blender, Cinema 4D, Maya, MotionBuilder, RenderMan, XSI, ZBrush, Nuke, and 3ds Max and Programming in C++ and Python
3D Riggers/Rigging TD
Compositing
Construction
Post-Production
"Compositors create the final image of a frame, shot, or sequence. They take different digital elements, like the animations, background plates, graphics, and special effects (SFX), and put them together to make a believable picture," ScreenSkills. They ensure the film's overall style is consistent, make sure work from different departments looks the same, and matches the Director's vision.
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Works with: "Compositors work with the artists that create all the different elements (art assets). They work most closely with the lighting artist and the Director as they are working to the Director's vision." Screenskill
Software: Adobe After Effects, Photoshop, Blackmagic Fusion, Nuke, Maya, Render Man, Mental Ray
Compositing
Lighting Artist
Construction
Production
"Lighting artists light the scenes in an animation… The difference with animation is that the lights are created through software, and the lighting artist has complete control of the effects. Lighting artists use light to enhance the atmosphere, tone, depth, and mood of a scene. They input different light effects depending on the factors in a frame or scene, such as the weather or the time of day. In addition, they make it clear where the light sources are meant to be in a scene," ScreenSkills.
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Works with: Shading Artists, Environment Artists, Color Key Artists, Effects, Art Director, Director, Production Designer, Look Dev/ Texture
Software: Adobe Photoshop
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3D Lighting Software: V-Ray, Arnold, RedShift, Renderman
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2D compositing software: After Effects, Blackmagic Fusion, and Nuke
Lighting Artist
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Prop FX / Prop Designer
Concept
Pre-Production, Production
"Generate prop designs, turnarounds, special poses, and any other prop-related art that the production may require," Animation insider. Props are anything in our story that our character interacts with or populates our environments; think everything from cars to swords to the empty chip bags littered across our character's messy bedroom. Prop Designers utilize strong mechanical and construction skills to ideate props based on the requirements of the story and production.
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Works with: The Art Director, Character Animators, Modeling, Effect, Sets
Software: Photoshop, Maya, Houdini
Prop FX / Prop Designer
VFX Artist/Simulation
Construction
Production, Post-Production
"A VFX artist must have a solid understanding of the basic laws of physics, along with all 3D animation job roles like 3D modeling, 3D texturing, rigging, animation, lighting, and rendering." They create complex motions or elements that are too difficult or even impossible to be 3D animated manually or motion-captured. Elements such as hair, fur, fluids, cloth, morphing, and explosions usually need to be simulated in a 3D environment." Dreamfarm Studios.
For example, those who create the effects of Merida's curly hair in "Brave" would be grooming simulation artists. Those who make the giant wave in "Frozen" would be water/ environmental simulation.
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Works with: Set's Department, Production Designer, Art Director, Director
Software: Houdini, Maya, 3Ds Max, Cinema 4D, Nuke, Fusion, and After Effects